We have advised Wolf Lingerie Group’s shareholders led by Gimv, owner of Sans Complexe, the fourth largest brand in the French lingerie market, on the sale of the Group to NextStage AM, together with its co-investors BNP Paribas Développement and Bpifrance, alongside the Management team.
Wolf Lingerie Group is the French market leader in lingerie for women with fuller busts with its Sans Complexe brand. Founded in 1947 and headquartered in La Wantzenau (Alsace), Wolf Lingerie Group launched Sans Complexe brand in 1998. With over 2.2 million consumers, Sans Complexe is a real success story, becoming the fourth largest brand in France across all channels in just a few years.
Since its inception, Sans Complexe has enjoyed undisputed legitimacy as a brand, reaping the benefits of its Body Positivity values, successful marketing overhaul and digital roll-out, while retaining its extremely attractive price/quality positioning. Its offering has been expanded and segmented to cater to the needs of women with fuller busts. Today it is a brand with an omnichannel strategy (including selective distribution networks, department stores and retailers) and international ambitions, that has expanded in e-commerce – which accounts for 15% of its revenue, through its own website and large online marketplaces.
Wolf Lingerie Group, with the support of its historical shareholders and its strong Management team, has undergone a complete operational transformation, adopting some of the highest standards in the industry in terms of ESG, HR, sourcing, logistics and information systems.
Boasting strong fundamentals and posting a triple net turnover of €43m in 2021, the Group is now in an ideal position to embark on the next phase of its development, capitalising on growth projects that were initiated in the past few years, in e-commerce and European expansion.
